[dipdawiz]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Fantast review! Thanks for sharing your experiences and welcome to the Seltos club. Wishing you many more happy and safe miles with your car.

---

Good to see that they have removed the stupid BS6 badging. My car had that and have already removed it. Even I bought my car from Advaith Kia and have been servicing with them and the experience has been fuss free so far.

Thanks for your wish. Kia also removed the Bose sticker too (that's what Advaith said). And yes, so far felt that Advaith Kia is eager to serve.

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

Great initial ownership report of the car that I almost finalised, drove maximum number of times, only to settle for its cousin in the same powertrain combo.
Just one point- my experience is that both the Creta and the Seltos are equal in terms of NVH for the diesel AT. You'd be hard pressed to say there's a Diesel engine running especially on highway runs between 80-120 kph.

Thanks. Yes Creta is also has similar NVH (checked in my neighbor's Creta 2020), just that the test drive vehicle was noisy at only 5000km in odo.

Originally Posted by skx007

Fantastic review dipdawiz!

Clean and crisp wording coupled with the necessary functional information, useful for any future buyers. On a personal note, I was pretty excited to read this review as this is the exact Variant + Color combo I'm looking to buy myself.

Is dual option colors available for the top variants (specifically the black and white combo)?

I wish you and family many many happy and safe miles with this beautiful car.

Thank you. yes dual tone is available on GTX+ Diesel also (IIRC costs approx. 15K more). Advaith Kia offered black roof wrap for some 9K.

Originally Posted by pradyumnakalagi

Great pictures, a crisp review and a rocking car!

You have undoubtedly picked the best engine + gearbox combo in the Seltos' range

Wishing you many happy miles

Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by DebarshiSharma

Wow! Excellent initial review. Your car looks smashing. Well, I just booked mine (same variant & color) a few weeks ago. Awaiting delivery by 20th of this month. Excitement has increased further seeing your review.

Congratulations and wishing you happy miles with the beauty!

Thanks and hope you too have a great experience at dealership and there after

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Congrats dipdawiz on your latest acquisition and it looks gorgeous in that shade too

KIA Seltos is my pick over the ugly Creta, although I am not a big fan of pseudo SUV or Crossover. As you have rightly posted, Compass is the real SUV but way to pricey. Although Harrier is much more of a SUV-like in proportion, Seltos just does give a much better bang for buck factor compared to any of its immediate competitors.

Wish you many more happy mile munching and a fuss free motoring.

Thank you. Looks was one of the deciding factor for me and as I told Creta is not to my liking and seeing one in flesh for last two months, still I would not have chose it. Specially when seen beside a Seltos (see the last picture)


After Coorg, did couple of smaller trips around Bangalore, one of them was Gudibande fort - Lepakshi. Drive was smooth as usual.







Day before yesterday, came out for a real trip Bangalore-Goa, its sort of staycation for 11 days. Got chance to test the highway dynamics and I can say for sure its a very comfortable vehicle to do long trips. managed to get 18kmpl with significant amount of driving in Sports mode, would update about the trip and some soft 'off-road'ing chance it got (along with Lava Orange Creta 2020).

[car_guy1998]

Congrats on buying new car and for well written review on your Seltos Diesel AT.

What's the mileage you are getting on your Seltos Diesel AT?Asking because we are also considering to buy a Seltos Diesel AT or Creta Diesel AT soon as a replacement for our almost 10 year old Innova.

BTW,I had taken a TD of Seltos Diesel MT in September and was quite impressed with its light clutch along with its light steering and easy to drive nature in city traffic.

[dipdawiz]

One of the reasons going for crossover was to have comfortable longer road trips. And after Coorg (and couple of smaller trips around Bangalore), this was a proper road trip. This time it is Goa.

Plan was to have a workation or staycation sort of trip. For 10 days, work remotely for 4 days in between and enjoy the rest. Found different options through AirBnB and other word of mouth sources. And finally booked one 3BHK villa in Margao for 10 nights. Added an youtube video link for a overall trip captured on dashcam.

To Goa


Started at 04:15 on a Saturday. Had taken sandwiches for early breakfast. First stop was after crossing Tumkur for a cup of tea and bio break at around 06:30. Second stop was Just after Ranebennur, had breakfast in Kamath @ 09:45 and third stop was Ramnagar for lunch @14:00; there are couple of road side restaurant to have meals. Road from Ramnagar to Goa boarder is pathetic, did not expect this bad. Govt started white topping but haven't finished nor it looks anyone is interested in finishing it. Reached our destination @18:00.

For next 9 days, it was only relax, and attending only unavoidable meetings for 4 days. At this time, there are less people, shacks and restaurants are not operational fully. However, its not that bad either. People turning up and business are opening slowly. Major and famous restaurants are open and water sports are full in action. Weekdays are more enjoyable with less tourist, lesser traffic. South Goa is always a place to be if you plan to relax, lesser crowd and calm ocean. Lets the pictures speak



















Went to Naval Aviation Museum at Vasco. Though its sort of became a history museum with all out of service war machines, but it has interesting and informative events and moments of Indian Navy, captured inside the main building (photography was not allowed inside)










To Bangalore


This time took a different route, more scenic one. With better road. Started at 07:30 and took first break at Karwar (Rabindranath Tagore Beach). Lunch just outside of Hubli-dharwad bypass at Kamath @13:00 and just a short break before Tumkur @17:30. Reached home @20:00. There was lots of traffic from Tumkur to Bangalore, increased the travel time significantly.

Frankly, it was so relaxed trip, took very less photograph either us, scenery or the car. Did not feel like holding up the mobile for a picture. And figured out that I am not able to think about anything when I am on road. Thanks to the comfortable drive and with lesser fatigue I sort of forgot to stop for some photo ops on the road, just kept going. These are the only photos took of the car. Would try to get more photos of road and the car in future trips.









Other points:

- Highway behavior of Seltos Diesel AT is excellent and for first time enjoyed the ventilated seat's cooling effect helping you to drive on. Drove for 3 hours straight in between breaks and there was no discomfort at any time
- Engine was never felt strained, you can do a pedal to metal at any time, it responds way beyond legal speed of Indian NH, of course not comparing to sportier sedans. The cruise control is aggressive to achieve the set speed, so much that it feels it drops down 2 gears when you set it to say 20kmph more than you were driving (say set to 100kmph and you are driving 80kmph).
- Overtaking is easy as the engine responds quickly and it pulls fast enough even when you are already at higher speeds.
- UVO hanged (for first time) once while returning and had to reset with a pin. Actually only the sound was muted and the display was not switching off even when car is fully off and locked. Other functionalities were all working, including android auto.
- AC is a chiller. In Goa's hot noons, it cools the cabin in a minute.
- Fuel economy shown in MID is pretty accurate (at least for longer drives) calculated tank full to tank full and it matches the MID reading (with variation of 0.1~0.3 kmpl less in actual)
- Was sort of disappointed about the GNCAP rating, but I guess the vacation helped to accept it as I already own it and nothing can be done now - its a mixed feeling.

Fuel economy
Got 18kmpl from Bangalore to Goa. But 17kmpl from Goa to Bangalore. Even though I was playing around with acceleration while going to Goa and half way the economy came down to 16kmpl, but eventually when reached to Goa it was @ 18kmpl. It reduced mostly due to the incline on our return to Bangalore (climbed to 800m).

See the video for different roads we encountered while going and around Goa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB6atTsWzjY

Originally Posted by car_guy1998

Congrats on buying new car and for well written review on your Seltos Diesel AT.

What's the mileage you are getting on your Seltos Diesel AT?

Thank you. And regarding mileage, its giving 14~15kmpl in city in current situation. In bumper to bumper traffic it comes down to 11~12kmpl. On highways like Mysore road (which has busy traffic always) got 16kmpl while going to Coorg. For Goa drive you can see on average I got at least 17kmpl. But in straight highways I am sure it can achieve 19-20kmpl.

[dipdawiz]

After Goa trip, there was not much driving, and I was out of station for almost a month, so trip meter reached just around 3600 and its 6 months after delivery. Hence, went for second free service, same place Advaith Kia, Lalbagh road.

It was last Saturday, reached around 10:30, service advisor took it in around 10:45 with promise to give by 2:30pm maximum, but expected around 1:30pm; and I was waiting in their seating area. No major complain as such, two things asked to check - 1. when empty and driving over rough patch, passenger seat rattles and 2. there is a tiny dot of stone chip mark on the bonnet that needs touchup (they have a pen type color tube).

It immediately went for wash and followed by their DTC scan which took some 30 min. Then the wait starts. and my service advisor sort of just vanished, no update, however wanted to see what happens. But around 2pm, just could not wait more, asked the receptionist and she tried to call and started looking for the guy and someone senior noticed it, then some people started running around, took the car to the service bay and finished everything in flat 20min. Now I am not sure whether its done well or that is what it takes. However, none of my two problems solved when they brought the car out and once told, the service guy ran around a bit and tighten some screws and bolts on the passenger side seat and put that touchup color on that dot. As there was no test drive after service, could not verify at the time of taking out the car; found that rattle has been reduced significantly but not gone completely.

Overall felt that efficiency is definitely lacking, also attention to details; they are not much worried about the customer is waiting or watching. Kia also might be going towards the service quality of Hyundai (which is pathetic whatever I saw couple of times). Even I found Ford service is quite good in most places. 10 years of Maruti service spoiled me .

[dipdawiz]

Long time there was no action, due to my travel to home town for a month and then 2nd wave lockdown. Once lockdown and night curfew removed in Karnataka, planned for a vacation and wanted it to do immediately as delay means cases would increase, crowed increase - increased risk. So before going out thought of installing a dual channel dashcam, an upgrade of sort.

I was using Transcend DP230 already and its not bad, 1080p 120 degree recording with GPS (overlay on video also). But it was loosing sharpness/details after I added a circular polarizer to get rid of dashboard reflection. Not a solid reason to change, it's actually an upgrade bug. So ordered "70mai Pro Plus+ A500S" dual channel dashcam - value for money, 2016p recording and 140 degree field of view in front and 1080p with 130 degree view on rear. Coupled with Samsung Evo 256gb micro SD card. Officially it supports up to 128gb, but from different forum came to know it works with 256gb also. So took a leap of faith and bought it, I can say so far its working fine. Apart from front and rear camera, it comes with
- 3.5 meters of micro USB cable for front
- 5.5 meters of micro USB cable for rear.
- a prying tool
- electrostatic stickers and 3m adhesive sticker

Recently I can see a lot of dashcam DIY in the forum, hence thought of adding it in ownership review instead of another dashcam install thread.

My last dash cam (see here) was installed with wire going through A pillar but was using 12v socket to power it so the wire was coming below the glovebox and would be seen from passenger side, this time thought of hardwire it for sake of clear install and why not. Not for recording while parked. 70mai dashcam needs 70mai brand's hardwire kit for parking monitor, the kit costs around Rs. 1600 and latest 70mai dashcam does not support buffered or hype-lapse recording, only event based like if a collision happens it records for 3 min, so sort of half backed solution.

Installing cameras
Installing the camera to windscreen and back glass is as usual with all dashcams and pretty simple 3 steps - 1. Clean glass, 2. apply electrostatic sticker 3. align and press the dashcam base on electrostatic sticker.






Running the cables to rear
This was the most challenging part to conceal cables from front to back. First thing I did was removed a portion of weather seal beading and thought of running the wire from front headliner to A pillar through roof panels to back. But once I removed the beading, it gave chills as I can see the curtain airbags nicely tucked from A pillar till C pillar. I was not ready to mingle in the path of airbag. So solution, even though it was obvious but did not come into mind immediately. Went back home for that day and then suddenly it struck in my mind why not through channels below scuff plate. So next day came back opened the weather beads and ran the wire from front headlining to passenger side A pillar till scuff plate, through b pillar (Bose amp wiring also runs through this) to C pillar up near to roof but then route to back through headliner. It was exact length and there is not much play for camera's to be installed, may be I can do a inch or two left or right. But that is ok, its not something moves regularly. Used small masking tape at some places where I felt to keep the cable in check from rattle inside the weather bead channels.


Running the wire for front camera
As it would be hardwired, front camera cable runs through driver side and goes into the fuse box area below steering column on the right. Used same technique from headliner to driver A pillar through weather bead channel just slips in near dashboard and reach the fuse box. After installation only place the wire is visible from inside is the two wires from front camera to headliner. and rear camera wire in back. Front is clean of any visible wire from cabin.



DIY hardwire kit
For my previous car I already had an Belkin 5V 3A fast charger car 12V adapter; with enough USB ports by default it was unused in this car, so thought of using it as 12v to 5v conversion.

First I removed the casing (broke open) and tried out the circuit by giving it 12v 2a whether it works.


Once satisfied, bought set of 2 "Micro2 fuse tap" comes with two 5A fuses. Soldered positive terminal to fuse tap and another cable to negative terminal. Again tested, ran for some time to check any head generation, once satisfied, insulated it with black tape, lightly so that component does not get pressed hard and with some small gaps for some air circulation.



Hardwiring
First I opened the fuse area cover, just pull the cover towards you with your hand, it pops out. Second for better access open the side panel of the dashboard, this is little tricky for first timers. Pull out some part of weather sealing on A pillar till below the dashboard. Now look towards the bottom of dashboard side panel, you can see a groove, use it to pry open the bottom first and work your way towards top, it is hold in place with 2 clips and couple of tabs on top.



Once open you can see a bolt just beside the fuse box and that is connected to the body of the car to act as earthing/negative. Open it a bit with a spanner and properly connect the negative wire and make sure its connected firmly.



Now you can test each fuse for suitable requirement for positive terminal. For me I wanted to keep the camera running as long as accessories are powered. So figured there are two fuses (marked in manual as POWER OUTLET 1 and POWER OUTLET 2) for power to 12v adapter, front/back USB and wireless charging. The one with 20A fuse on last but one row and last but one column - is for wireless charging. I used that to tap power.


Opened the fuse, connect to the bottom slot of fuse tap, and top one is 5a fuse for dashcam hardwire kit. Now push the fuse tap to the empty slot from where you removed the fuse.


Now test. Once satisfied, first neatly tied the loose wires and cleared the fuse area so nothing is blocked as such and no wire dangling below the dashboard.


Now close the side panel, this time start from top, slide the top tabs of the panel and work down till the bottom you can hear clicks for each of the clips. Push the weather beading in place. Close the fuse access lid. Test once more, its turning on, drove over bad road, no rattle so far - Done.

Review
Build quality of dashcam is good and feels sturdy. Video quality is also good at 2K resolution. However at night its not as good as I thought but ok. It has GPS inbuilt and apart from showing route on map (only in app) the GPS coordinates and speed are overlaid on video both front and rear. Two set of video gets captured in two files. Typical 3min video of front is 500MB and rear is 250MB. You can change any setting from the app also.




Some of the limitations or cons of either app or dashcam would be -
- in app you cannot see rear camera live view nor you can take photo from rear camera,
- no option to mute the sound it makes while switched on,
- no button to mute sound recording when back camera is connected,
- Would have liked a dedicated button to switch on Wi-Fi hotspot,


The "Jugaad"
Like my previous dashcam this one also has a circular polarizer (same one reused). Bought a 30mm CPL filter from amazon, opened up the filter from the frame and glued on a metal ring and on to a plastic pipe cut into the shape of the lens - it helps to rotate on its axis. In bright day it helps a lot reducing 90% of reflections and in partly cloudy days it reduce glare to nil.



Here is an example video (sorry about the watermark). Just to note, its converted to 1080p, just to show CPL in action. actual video is in 2016p and no compression with better details so the difference is more evident.

https://youtu.be/klmujSjB_vY

That's all for today. I shall update about the trip in couple of days.

[dipdawiz]

Done first annual service @5500km (3rd free service). Booked appointment at Advaith Kia, Banashankari. Appointment was today 9 am. Reached around 9:15 and service advisor was available. There was no complaint, so it was only engine oil, oil and air filter change as per their book. They added 110 rupees of Wurth windscreen washer fluid. Though I normally ask to remove that, but this time did not say anything, just asked them not to pour it, they gave me the bottle. For wheel balance and alignment, they said it can be done around 9-10k km if I am not facing issue currently; it was felt alright so far and they inspected the tire threads for uneven wear which also looked fine, so it was not done. They took the vehicle at 9:30am; I waited there and on my request made it ready at 12:30pm. Total cost was 2780.

There was a software update - "Judgement Logic update", upon asking, the technician told its for rpm and gear shift judgement logic update for smoother gearshift in diesel automatic. The update itself takes around half an hour. Did not feel any difference while driving back home for around 18km within city.

One thing they did without me asking - added weather seal tubes inside weather beading for both front doors. Looks like there are complain about leak from some owners, so they did it anyway. Though I did not face any water seepage even when driven through heavy rains while in Udupi/Jog two weeks back. Nothing was charged for this.

Cleaning the car was also quite good. It's not normal eco-wash/waterless sort of thing, they used little water also. Its combination of high compressed air, foam wash, water wash and microfiber wipe. And they did only vacuum for interior, on request no polish/spray or damp cloth was used inside.

According to SA they take only 8 appointments a day. So there was no rush and as I requested for a closer look at workshop, got a tour of the workshop along with the paint booth, saw a Sonet was being painted. While in workshop SA explained what all they checked; apparently check points are more for paid service. Overall excellent experience.

[dipdawiz]

Before memory fades, let me write down about this year's first proper trip. As second wave of pandemic mellowed, decided to give life a break from the gloom and monotony. With restrictions all around the plan is to visit placed within state.

So decided to go to Udupi-Murudeshwar-Jog. Made the plan fast, and booked the hotels faster. In Udupi we stayed in Paradise Isle beach resort. In Murudeshwar it was RNS Residency and in Jog its one and only Mayura.

Started on 18th July Sunday and back on 24th July Saturday, avoiding all weekend rush.

Day 1, we were 4 families, started around 5:30 in morning and with all break reached around 5 in the evening. For route took the road via Hiriyur, around Bhadra wild life sanctuary and through Agumbe. Food option on road is limited though. However you would get some hotels around Hiriyur and Agumbe.



TO UDUPI

It was a scenic drive through out. And absolute trunquil but thrilling driving through Agumbe in the cloud.

https://youtu.be/GYxXplRyBls

Spent 3 days in Udupi and visited minimal tourist places, it was fully a vacation to relax. Paradise Isle Resort is a glory of past, its not bad but it has seen better days. Restaurant is not good apart from breakfast. Everyday we ordered dinner and went out for lunch.


View from hotel room


One evening in Malpe beach




Shri Krishna Temple


Somewhere on the way to Kapu lighthouse


The walk


Near port










Kapu lighthouse


In Padubidri Beach


Special mention required for food in Machli in Mangalore. It's fish lovers paradise.



TO MURUDESHWAR

From there, on 4th day went to Murudeshwar with break at Maravante beach. Stay at RNS residency was spectacular.


After we reached it started raining cats and dogs. Here is another view from the hotel room

https://youtu.be/iwxv5Pw79ug

Stop at Maravante beach









Stayed there only one night and next day morning visited the temple complex. It takes 2 hours max if there is no crowd. The view from 18th floor of gopuram is excellent.










TO JOG

From there drove to Jog falls. Stayed in Mayura Jog falls and you can see the waterfall from hotel room itself. It was raining heavily and experience was surreal. We, in Bangalore, do not experience this type of rain ever. So it was very much enjoyable for us.



It was magical as the Jog was playing hide and seek with cloud all day long



Jog falls with all its glory

https://youtu.be/TrZJi6bMrK0

The drive was excellent through out. Road conditions, even in this heavy rain, was top notch and did not find any road that is very bad nor had to struggle maneuvering pot holes or ditches.

The car itself behaved well in all sort of road and weather condition. It returned average 17kmpl (16.8kmpl to be precise - tank full to tank full) - including all straight highway, ghat section, city driving (total 1350km). Really enjoying the automatic transmission and turns in ghat was breeze.

Until next time. Cheers

[Raghunath Singh]

Very informative write up and thanks for all the details. Read all the posts back to back. What is the longest you have kept your vehicle on stand by? Wanted to check if there is any battery drain etc. I have booked XUV 700 and and owing to the delay in delivery contemplating the Seltos GTX+ Diesel. Must say your post has given lot of confidence.

Any recent feedback update on the vehicle is highly appreciated and yes, keep those travelogues rolling. Wishing you happy miles with your Seltos.

Cheers

[dipdawiz]

Originally Posted by Raghunath Singh

Very informative write up and thanks for all the details. Read all the posts back to back. What is the longest you have kept your vehicle on stand by? Wanted to check if there is any battery drain etc. I have booked XUV 700 and and owing to the delay in delivery contemplating the Seltos GTX+ Diesel. Must say your post has given lot of confidence.

Any recent feedback update on the vehicle is highly appreciated and yes, keep those travelogues rolling. Wishing you happy miles with your Seltos.

Cheers

Thank you and glad that you liked my writing.

Longest was two weeks gap between starts, for almost 2~3 months (during 2nd wave), no issues faced then and no issues so far.

In recent past (last October) went for a ~1400km trip to north Karnataka. Travelogue coming soon, already delayed, hopefully by this weekend. As usual driving experience was top notch. Did couple of 100~150km drives too. More details in coming post

[Raghunath Singh]

Originally Posted by dipdawiz

Thank you and glad that you liked my writing.

Longest was two weeks gap between starts, for almost 2~3 months (during 2nd wave), no issues faced then and no issues so far.

In recent past (last October) went for a ~1400km trip to north Karnataka. Travelogue coming soon, already delayed, hopefully by this weekend. As usual driving experience was top notch. Did couple of 100~150km drives too. More details in coming post

Thanks for the response. Look forward to your travelouge

[dipdawiz]

2021 is not a year to remember for me like many others, unexpectedly it was far worse than 2020. Though I consider myself lucky that no near or dear one has suffered much like many others have to bear losses in unimaginable ways. But it passed away one day at a time; with many changes in occasions and celebrations. In 2021, it was decided that our society Durga Puja that's happening for last couple of years, even in 2020 also, would not be done. Being one of the organizing members more over a Bengali, it was not easy to accept. So just to occupy the mind with something for those 5 days decided for a trip to Hampi, Badami and Bijapur. 7 days - starting on Sunday and return on next Saturday. This works out best by avoiding weekend rush - both in destination or on highway.

This is the 3rd time I am going to Hampi, but that is a place you can go any number of times if you are a history buff. I am not good in history, never could remember dates or names properly, but still history always awe me.

Plan is simple Bangalore - Hampi - Badami - Bijapur - Bangalore


Stayed in Clarks Inn in Hampi, and Mayura hotels in both Badami and Bijapur.

Day 1 - Bangalore to Hampi
Day 2 - Hampi
Day 3 - Hampi - Badami
Day 4 - Badami
Day 5 - Badami - Bijapur
Day 6 - Bijapur
Day 7 - Bijapur - Bangalore

Hampi

Day 1 - We started around 5:30 in the morning. Traffic was very less on NH 48 and even lesser after we crossed Chitradurga on NH 50. Road was butter smooth. It was so pleasant driving that only break we took was in Hotel Shree Rathanam for breakfast and reached Tunga Bhadra dam near Hampi in 5 hours. 2nd break we took in Tunga Bhadra dam. Did not go inside the dam garden; saw the dam from bridge and headed towards hotel.



After lunch and an hour of rest, headed for Daroji Bear Sanctuary. There are couple of rescued bears who come out for food served by forest dept. There are real wild bear also, but you would be lucky to spot them. However, its ok to visit this place once. It closes by 5:30 pm, and bears comes out for food around 3:30pm, so plan accordingly and reach early. Roads to the place is narrow and through village, so be careful driving. You have to take your own car (or cab) to get inside the park and has entry fee (25 for adult) and car fee (500 for passenger car).



Next day after breakfast started the day around 9 am and arranged a guide for whole day. Now its always better to take guide for historical places, else you would miss out tons of information. But the guide service available on spot are not organized, hey would show rate card but you can bargain. My guide Mr Rajesh (+919359445076) was polite and could speak in English, and more over double vaccinated. After all verification, he came with us in the car as a navigator and guide. Ticket you buy in Lotus Mahal is valid for 3 more places including Museum. The history, the facts, the stories, the treasures are so vast, they cannot be described by me in a travelogue. Hence let some of the thousands photos I have taken speak

We started with Vittala temple, most sought after site in Hampi and famous stone chariot is here. The path from parking to Vittala temple is almost 2km, you can walk or take electric cart to-and-fro, price 25/- per person.






Next we went to Royal enclosure. This was the court yard of king and all other Govt offices and some temples. The base is all intact but you notice that none of the building is there, not even a broken part, reason behind that is due to weather and culture all houses, specially the royal ones were made of wood. It was a marvel with all advancement in social, administrative, economical and scientific progress. When Islamic invasion happened, the whole city burned for six months to ground. It took a coalition of 4 Muslim sultanates to defeat Vijayanagara.





On the way to Royal enclosure, saw Queens bath



Near to royal enclosure there is Lotus mahal and royal elephant stable. Same ticket of Vittala temple works here. Also saw Hazararama temple.





There is a museum in city, you can visit the same, but nothing to miss as such if you skip. After lunch we saw Ugra Lakhshmi Narayna, Virupaksha temple and Big and Small Ganesha temple along with Hemakuta temples






Pin hole reflection of Virupaksha Gopuram, captured nicely on mobile camera



A 180 panorama from Hemakuta temple groups



Next day morning, we visited some of the places we missed previous day. Then around 12 we left Hampi, towards Badami. Had lunch on the way. Options for food is very less so plan accordingly.






Before moving to next section, want to mention, Clarks Inn is not very good hotel, not sure how it was before, but in pandemic time the food is bad, service is bad, rooms are just ok for price, cramped parking. I found Mayura in Hampi is decent in all the matters.

Before leaving another angle of stone chariot

[dipdawiz]

Badami

On 3rd day we reached Badami around 4:30 pm. Road from Hampi to Badami is always not very good and some places they are narrow and one can doubt if that is a proper road. But none the less google took us Badami without any issues.
The Mayura Badami is a budget lodge type accommodation. They are clean but can see general nuance of Govt property. Has a restaurant in ground floor and serves typical veg and non-veg food - fresh, cheap and best.
Took rest that day, started with Pattadakal on day 4. This is the place where knowledge of architecture flourished and fusion of different genre of that era happened. Take a guide and loose yourself into the history. Let the pictures speak





The details of pillars inside temples are also mesmerizing. Each of them depict a story from Hindu scripture.






There is a temple which is still active and daily puja happens



A set of temples are inside the same complex, each time, different King used this place to build their temple





From there we went to Aihole. Trivia, famous "Durga temple" in Aihole has nothing to do with Devi Durga, it's "Durga" - fort.










Near to famous Aihole temple, there are couple of cave temples, unknown to many. One of them was Ravana Phadi




After Aihole we came back to hotel around 2, had lunch and after an hour of rest, went to see Badami caves. Here again took a guide, and start going up the steps to visit 3 main caves.







Bhootnath temple complex, plan was to go there the next day.




Day 5 was planned for morning trek of Lower and Higher Shivalaya, but laziness caught us good, so slept little longer and after breakfast directly started for Vijayapura (Bijapur).

A take of upper Shivalaya day before, from Badami Cave

[dipdawiz]

Vijayapura

Road is excellent from Badami to Bijapur (now Vijayapura). And reached Hotel Mayura Adilshahi at lunch time. This hotel is one of the best Mayura I ever stayed. Clean, specious, well decorated. But most of all, a gem of a restaurant for lunch and dinner (kept breakfast out of this, it is Mayura's typical 2 plates per person idly, dosa, upma etc). Had special Adilshahi Chicken Biriyani, its no doubt a different take on biriyani than usual Hyderabadi, Kolkata or other styles.
On day 6 took a guide and started our sightseeing. Vijayapura is congusted city and parking is issue in some places, but guide helped to navigate and show us the places we shown interest. Started with famous Gol Gombuz.





Jamia Masjid



Sangeet Mahal




Ibrahim Roza






Shri 1008 Sahasraphani Parshwanath Jain Temple, a unique Idol and its very difficult to capture on camera as it is so polished and like jet black.



Barakaman





And back
Return journey was 550km, after breakfast started at 8:30am. Again NH 50 is so nice, we took only one bio break, one lunch break and one unwanted almost an hour of tire puncture break - with all those we managed to reach home with in 10 hours with out breaking sweat.


The whole journey I drove with in 80-110 kmph range where ever possible, fuel economy was 17kmpl on total trip, only on highways on day 1 it was 18kmpl, and on day 7 it was 19kmpl. All tank to tank calculation.
Roads are all good except some stretch from Hampi to Badami.

Overall it was a pleasant and leisure trip without any hurry to see all monuments or run around to cover all destination. Stays were decent, would prefer some star hotels next time. Road is above expectation so enjoyed the drive so much so that did not get down to take photos in scenic places, not even in the wind mill forest on both side of NH 50.

Now wait begins for Omicron wave to be gone and plan for next trip.

[dipdawiz]

After Hampi, took out the car only for some drive to cope with weekend boredom. Went to A2B near Krishnagiri, Bhoganandishwara temple, Nandi hills. All were in afternoon and evening. No photo of these small drives.

In one weekend thought of change the number plate light from regular yellow to white led to match other led around the car, also the boot light. Bought this for number plate and this one for boot. Installing the number plate light is little tricky. Open the boot plastic cladding by removing two screws towards the glass area.



The cladding is fixed with couple of clips around the center and the edges. Start opening from glass area and whole thing comes off.



Now, both the bulb is locked in a socket which needs to be turned anti-clockwise using the screw driver head and it would come out. Little inaccessible area, but doable. Change the bulbs and lock them in place with clockwise turn. switch on and check the bulb are working, as they need to be installed with proper polarization, if it does not glow, its installed wrong and just install with different polarity.




looks good in day looks good at night too.



For boot light, use a flat screw driver to pry open the boot light from body, its festoon type bulb, just open the cover and replace. These bulbs are bi-polarity safe, so any way you install they works. Just that there is no increase in light, may be need more powered led or better lumen one.




Then in one weekend, installed some reflective tape on side of the doors for increase vehicle visibility. Bought this, a small roll of 3M reflective tape. Cut them in size and installed this way, inside weather seal -
Front door


Rear door

[dipdawiz]

After reading some of the posts about map update of Seltos and Creta can be done by user, I thought of giving it a try. I use the inbuilt navigation only few times, specially if the destination is a well known place and I know part of the route already. For unknown and unfamiliar locations I prefer to use gmap + "ask that guy".

Anyway, back to the updating map yourself - first head to https://india.map-care.com/. You have to register here with your VIN; it asks for car purchase date, device id and some other info also. Device info you can get from Setup > General > System Info > "Version Info/Update" option from your infotainment system (Seltos). Once done, login and head to purchase the map update page. Select appropriate make and model of your car; you can see the map update details and price shown is 1500/-. Select "online download" and in the final payment page the price would become zero.




After purchasing the map update, head to manage update page and you can see all the details of your purchases and map updates.




Also under manage vehicle, you can see your UVO/Blue-link subscription end date. So seems like the details are linked using your VIN. And 3 free map updates you can do yourself.




Now head to update manual page, ignore the first instruction which shows to download the update; scroll down and download "Smart Update Manager" application.




Install the application and when you run it, the application asks you to login, use same credentials to login. It would ask you to insert a USB pen drive; on detection of one, it shows the drive in a list. Now remember the update is 8GB+, so you need a 16GB USB pen drive.




Once you select the USB drive and proceed, it shows if any update is pending. If you have multiple car registered, you would be able to select which ever car you want to update and the application would show if any update is available that you purchased for that car.




On click of update, it would download, format and copy the updated map files to USB drive. Once complete you can eject the pen drive and the pen drive can be used directly in your car USB port. You have to use Android Auto/Car play USB port which is in center in Seltos (not the one which can only be used for charging).




Start your car while parking brake is engaged. Once your infotainment system is fully on, insert the USB pen drive. It automatically detects the update content and shows whether you want to update or not. Alternatively you can go to Setup > General > System Info > "Version Info/Updates" and click on "Update"




It goes through 4 set of updates each takes 4~5 minutes approximately and it would reboot when its done. Total it took exactly 18 minutes in my case.




Version before and after update (ignore the time, pictures taken on different date)




From quick look, I don't think navigation app has much change; only change I could see is it shows updated apartments' names and road names around my area now, which was not available before. So it's just POI update. There might be some updates on map images/icons, but cannot be sure. All in all it's a smooth process. How it improves location search, direction etc. is yet to be checked.